Rayan Aït-Nouri (; born 6 June 2001) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

or a

left wing-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team.

Early life

Aït-Nouri was born in Montreuil, in the eastern suburbs of Paris. He grew up in

Fontenay-sous-Bois Fontenay-sous-Bois () is a Communes of France, commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Name The name Fontenay was recorded in the Middle Ages as ''Fontanetum'', meaning "the spring ...

, in the

Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it is situated in the Grand Paris metropolis to the southeast of the City of Paris. In 2019, Val-de-Marne had a ...

department.

Club career

Angers

Aït-Nouri is a graduate of the

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

youth academy, which he joined from Paris FC in July 2016 in return for covering Aït-Nouri's tuition fees of €5,000. He signed his professional contract aged 16 in February 2018 and made his first team debut as a substitute in a 3–1 loss to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

on 25 August 2018. After making three appearances in the 2018–19 season, he became the team's first choice left-back in the following season until breaking his jaw in a game against

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, with the club having an option of a permanent purchase. Twenty-six days later, he scored his first goal in professional football, on his league debut in a 2–0 home win over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. On 9 July 2021, Aït-Nouri made a permanent move to Wolves for £9.8 million, on a five-year deal with an option for a further year. He scored his second goal for Wolves in his 50th appearance for the club, on 15 May 2022, in a 1–1 home Premier League draw with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. On 26 December 2022, Aït-Nouri scored the winning Wolves goal in Julen Lopetegui's first Premier League game as Wolves' new head coach away at Everton; this was Aït-Nouri's first (and only) league goal of the 2022–23 season. Aït-Nouri made his 100th competitive appearance for Wolves in a 4–2 away win against Chelsea in the Premier League on 4 February 2024. Aït-Nouri was the author of Wolves' second goal of the game, his shot being deflected into the Chelsea goal by

Axel Disasi Axel Wilson Arthur Disasi Mhakinis Belho (born 11 March 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea, and the France national team. Early life Axel Wilson Arthur Disasi Mhakinis Belho was born on 11 M ...

Manchester City

On 9 June 2025, Aït-Nouri made a permanent move to fellow Premier League side

on a five-year deal running till summer of 2030 for a reported initial fee of £31.8 million with potential £5.2 million in bonuses. Aït-Nouri made his City debut on 22 June in the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

, starting in a 6–0

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

win over

Al Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is Oman–United Arab Emirates border, bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al A ...

International career

Aït-Nouri holds French and Algerian nationalities. He was a youth international for France, having represented the French under-18 and under-21 teams. In January 2023, he switched to represent

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

internationally. He made his debut with the Algerian national team in the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification matches were organised by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide the participating teams for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, the 34th edition of the international men's fo ...

match against

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, in Nelson Mandela Stadium, on 23 March 2023. In December 2023, he was named in Algeria's squad for the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, known in short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 34th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournam ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Individual *Wolverhampton Wanderers Player of the Month: December 2022

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester City F.C. website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ait-Nouri, Rayan 2001 births Living people Footballers from Val-de-Marne Algerian men's footballers French men's footballers France men's under-21 international footballers France men's youth international footballers French sportspeople of Algerian descent Men's association football fullbacks Angers SCO players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Ligue 1 players Premier League players French expatriate men's footballers French expatriate sportspeople in England Algerian expatriate men's footballers Algerian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Algerian sportsmen